Gender Wage Gap

When it comes to the gender wage gap, the uncontrolled gap truly represents: women are less likely to hold high-level, high paying jobs than men. PayScale, a leading compensation research company, shows at the start of their careers, men and women tend to work at similar job levels, most often entering the workforce at the individual contributor level: 72 percent of men and 74 percent of women in the age group 20-29 are in individual contributor roles. Over the course of their career, men move into higher level roles at significantly higher rates than women. By mid-career (age range 30-44), men are 70 percent more likely to be in VP or C-suite roles than women. By late career (age 45+), men are 142 percent more likely to be in these higher paying roles. On the flip side, women are more likely than men to remain in individual contributor positions over the course of their careers. By mid-career, 60 percent of women are in individual contributor positions vs. 52 percent of men. By late career, 59 percent of women are still in individual contributor positions vs. 43 percent of men.

When you dig deeper into the wage gap data, you find that while women are paid 77 cents for every dollar paid to men…African American women and Latinas fare much worse, being paid 64 cents and 55 cents respectively for every dollar paid to white non-Hispanic men. What I’ve found, at least in electrical distribution, the largest pay increases go to women, so maybe we’re doing something right as an industry.

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ABOUT EGRET CONSULTING

Egret Consulting is an established and well-respected recruiting firm for the electrical manufacturing and distribution industries. We serve clients in the global electrical industry, including SSL Lighting, lighting design, electrical distribution, wire & cable, power distribution and renewable energy.